Once in awhile, my husband and I venture back to my post-college neck of the woods DC and have the most fabulous dinner. Where, you might ask? This block has been on the news before. In fact, Guy Fieri featured Comet Ping Pong for its oyster pizza (pretty good). Additionally, the renown Politics and Prose bookstore and coffeehouse is right there.

However, mostly recently, we headed into upper Northwest DC for an amazing meal at Buck’s Fishing and Camping near the corner of Nebraska and Connecticut Avenues. We knew that we were in for a treat and were more than excited to indulge for a night.

The atmosphere at Bucks is whimsical and earthy. You’ll find a different and fun placemat at each setting (mine was on state birds and flowers… My husband had an informative placemat on fresh water fish). With the whimsy also comes a homey fireside feel with a bit of decadence on top. I adore it here.

For our appetizers, we ordered the fried oysters and crab beignets. I am not a huge fried oyster fan in general but this is a regular order for my husband. The crab beignets were new for us (and I think the menu). It was literally crab dip inside a crispy and doughy beignet. Really delicious.

Next is our favorite part of Bucks – the main dish. We ordered the Big Steak. It’s a dry aged Prime New York strip of between 16-18 ounces. As per usual, we decided to split the steak (and a bottle of wine). What is so amazing about this steak is how beautifully medium rare – our requested order – it is in the center with a lovely salty, crispy crust on top. On one of my visits, a member of the staff told me the steaks are dipped in soy sauce and red wine then put into an extremely hot oven. Whatever they are doing – please don’t stop. It’s impeccable and the best steak I have had to date.

Salivating yet? I am… After oohing and ahhing through an otherwise quiet dinner (because we couldn’t stop eating the steak), we decided to also split a dessert. We had the chocolate cake with creme fraiche. It was a perfect decadent end to our dinner.

I highly recommend this restaurant. I have enjoyed everything I have tried on the menu. That said, My new norm is to experiment with the appetizers a bit but my entree remains steady – the Big Steak. Now find your OpenTable app and make a reservation 🙂